Solutions to common issues

Frequently Asked Questions

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What is Webex?

Webex is a set of tools designed for personal and corporate collaboration. It’s used to connect to others, typically through the internet, and allows you to communicate with audio, video, text chat, file sharing, whiteboard and other features.

Webex uses:

To hold and attend online meetings, collaborate on team projects, and share documents.

To watch and attend presentations, communicate with the presenter, and collaborate with remote participants.

How does it work?

Webex software is delivered over the web as you need it. The first time you attend a meeting, Webex will automatically install on your computer and takes only a few moments. Your local IT or Central IT staff have also been pushing out the needed software to your work machines.

You can use Webex from any computer with an internet connection, and from most smartphones and tablets.

You can schedule a WebEx meeting ahead of time, or start one spontaneously-personal room- as needed.

If you use Webex to invite someone to a meeting, they will receive an email that allows them to attend. Attendees don’t have to have a Webex account. Your invitation includes a link they can click to join you online.

What is Webex Teams?

Webex Teams, formerly Spark, is a meeting, messaging, and videoconferencing service for one-on-one or team collaboration with file and screen sharing.

Webex Teams features include:

Persistent chat and collaboration rooms

Screen sharing and whiteboarding

On-demand video or audio meetings

Meeting scheduling and file sharing

Create secure work areas within Webex Teams to begin collaborating with another person, group or team. Cisco Webex Teams App should be installed by your local IT or Central IT on your work machine. If you have admin rights to your machine you can download the app at Cisco Webex Teams download. You do not need to use the free trial -you have an account with UW Madison. Login to Webex Teams using your primary email and authenticate using your NetID and password.

Teams is available for Windows, Mac, most mobile devices, including iPhone, iPad, Android, and Windows Phone, and through a web browser. Get more detailed information at: Webex Teams: What is Webex Teams?

What is a "team" and how do I create one?

Teams helps you keep stay organized by categorizing multiple spaces under a common theme. It’s a great for working on large projects that involve multiple departments all working together on a project.

When you’re creating a team on a Mac, you can also select an emoji and add it to the name. Use teams instead of spaces (groups) when you need the members to break out into more than one group (like breakout sessions).

Follow these instructions for your specific device or operating system to create a team.

What is a "space" in Webex Teams and how do I create one?

With Webex Teams, everything you do is shared and stored in a designated space. You can send messages, have video meetings, share documents and whiteboards. Spaces helps organize your group’s work making collaboration on a specific project easy and efficient.

To create a space:

Go to , click , and choose:

Contact a Person to start a conversation between you and just one other person. Then enter their name or email address and press Enter. Send a message to create the space.

Create a Space to start a group conversation. First, name the space. If you’re using a Mac, you can add emojis to the name. Then select Create. If you want, you can add people before or after you create the space.

Can students use Webex Teams?

Yes.

How do I send a message in Webex Teams?

Simply go to and choose Contact a Person to enter their email or name. Then, just type and send your message, and you’ve now just created a space just for the two of you. The next time you message them, you can just select their name from the list of your spaces.

To get more details on how to send a message to a group of people go to Messaging.